Smoke on the water, but no fire in the sky?

A contractor conducts a smoke test on a pipe over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. Photo courtesy of San Antonio Water System.

This week, the San Antonio Water System expanded its smoke tests in water pipes above the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, an exercise the utility was already conducting in a limited phase. Since June, contractors have dropped smoke bombs into more than 60 miles of pipe on the northeast part of the recharge zone in hopes of scouting out leaks.

SAWS recently hired several other contractors, according to spokeswoman Sarah Gatewood, and this week, they started to test the remaining 630 miles of pipe that connect to 52,000 private “laterals” to service homes and businesses. The tests should be complete by the end of the year.

But although SAWS hangs notices on doors at homes and businesses and places signs on streets, people continue to call 9-1-1 to report structure fires.

On Tuesday, San Antonio Fire Department crews were called to a Chase Bank in the 18100 block of Blanco Road to investigate a possible fire. The dispatcher told personnel to keep in mind that SAWS was conducting smoke tests, and shortly after arriving, officials determined a smoke bomb caused the call.

“We’re coordinating with the fire department just so they know, but they can’t ignore a report of a fire,” said SAWS spokeswoman Anne Hayden. “But the easiest way to check: if there’s a manhole cover that’s missing or people in orange vests, then hopefully people can tell that it’s crews testing for SAWS.”

“It never hurts to call 9-1-1 when a resident sees smoke and they can’t tell where it’s coming from,” she said. “If someone were to automatically assume it’s smoke testing when they can’t clearly identify the source, the consequences could be awful.”

Hayden said there’s one other way to try to determine if a smoke bomb is the culprit: the pipe testing smoke smells like fireworks, or sweeter than typical structure fires.